Appointment and Compensation - CJA Forms

Appointment and Compensation - CJA Forms

This Info Applies toThese Roles

Attorney

Expert/Other Service Provider

Processor

Reviewer

Approver

Excess Approver

This section introduces the standardized Criminal Justice Act (CJA)
forms, including those used for the appointment of counsel and
compensation and reimbursement of attorneys and other service providers.

Federal courts use standard forms approved by the Judicial
Conference of the U.S. or its Committee on Defender Services for
Criminal Justice Act (CJA)-related matters. For example, special forms
are used to determine a person's financial eligibility for CJA
representation (Form CJA 23); to
appoint CJA panel attorneys to represent eligible clients (Form CJA 20/Form CJA 30); for attorneys to request
authorization to obtain expert and other necessary services (Form CJA 21/Form CJA 31/Form CJA 24); and for attorneys and
others to request payment for their services (using the applicable Form CJA 20, Form CJA 30, Form CJA 21, Form CJA 31, or Form CJA 24).

These forms are referred to as “vouchers” when they are used by
attorneys and other CJA service providers as claims for compensation
and reimbursement of expenses.

Some forms are specialized for capital or non-capital CJA cases
only; other forms may be used for either case type. There are also
forms that may be used by panel attorneys to provide supplemental
information about compensation claims that request funds in excess of
waivable statutory maximums (Form CJA 26/Form CJA 27). These forms and various
other specialized forms and worksheets are available at http://www.uscourts.gov/forms.

The site is maintained by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts on behalf of the Office of Defender Services.
To provide comments or suggest improvements to this website, call or email Diane Goldberg, 202-502-2909 or diane_goldberg@ao.uscourts.gov.

The purpose of this site is to function as a clearinghouse for information about the Criminal Justice Act and the National CJA voucher process.